Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 22,709 Shares of SM Energy Company $SM

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) by 82.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,942 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 22,709 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in SM Energy by 112.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,115 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,935,000 after buying an additional 49,740 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,243,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,965,000. Readystate Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of SM Energy by 293.3% in the second quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 222,880 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,817,000 after buying an additional 166,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,489,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SM. Mizuho set a $39.00 target price on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $61.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at SM Energy

In other SM Energy news, EVP James Barker Lebeck sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.02, for a total transaction of $647,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,705 shares in the company, valued at $544,379.10. This trade represents a 54.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashwin Venkatraman sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.28, for a total value of $139,722.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,525 shares in the company, valued at $479,457. The trade was a 22.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SM stock opened at $40.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.95. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $41.56.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The energy company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.23. SM Energy had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 215.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

SM Energy Company Profile

SM Energy Company is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include acquiring prospective acreage, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing properties in U.S. onshore oil and gas basins.

The company’s operations are primarily concentrated in Texas, including the Midland Basin in West Texas and the Eagle Ford shale region in South Texas. SM Energy focuses on development of unconventional resources and uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to produce hydrocarbons from shale and other tight-rock formations.

Founded in 1908 as St.